Life and Death are just one heartbeat apart
by Snow White'84
Summary: It's a sequel to my previous story "Seas of Madness - Trees of Sadness", starting off right where it ended: after Sheila had taken her brother's life at the 'Sea of Madness'... [...]The girl gasped in shock while staring down at her brother unbelievingly. "Bobby? Oh my god... Bobby..." Sheila whispered hoarsely.[...] (Spoiler warning: May contain character death...)
1. Lost to the Sea - Your world wasn't mine

**Life and Death are just one heartbeat apart**

* * *

This is a sequel of my previous story "Seas of Madness - Trees of Sadness"  
Spoiler: May contain character death.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What has happened so far:

After being told about a 'Keeper of a Portal' called Marius by Dungeon Master, the Young Ones were setting off to him right away.

When they had a rest near a forest Hank sent Eric and Bobby into it to get something to eat, hoping to solve the constant arguments between the two boys with this step.  
But of course his well-meant plan went completely wrong because they began to argue and split up in the end. Being on his own Bobby discovered a tree and tried some of its fruits; a fatal mistake as the berries were poisonous.

The poison caused a remarkable change of the character, leading to death.

Even Dungeon Master himself couldn't help since this was 'nature's doing' but there was a single cure, though: the water of the 'Sea of Madness'.  
They were about to go to this sea when suddenly Venger showed up and kidnapped the Barbarian, forcing them to rescue the young boy from Venger's grip at first.

However, time was working against them because Bobby's condition had already gotten worse when they eventually made it.

After a difficult and long journey they finally reached the sea but there other bad news were awaiting them: they found out from two ghostly creatures - the 'Protectors of the Sea' - that the water wasn't used the way they thought, it wasn't going to help anything at all to simply drink the water or to bath in it.  
The poisoning would only be completely over when 'the heart stops beating'; in other words: when Bobby dies.

So they had the horrible choice to let the boy die of the poisoning or to release him from his agony by drowning him.  
But no matter how they were going to decide, one thing was certain: they would lose in any case!

After many considerations they have come to a decision.  
Sheila was the one to carry this heavy burden and so she did what she had to do: she killed her own little brother...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
**  
1\. Lost to the Sea - Your world was not mine**

It slowly went quiet around the quite large sea. In the distance some kind of an owl was hooting, greeting the coming night in its way - rather unaware that its call was regarded as a death message on earth for a long time, above all in the Middle Ages.

Apart from that nothing moved, not even the wind.

Once in a while only loud sobs, emerging from the bottom of someone's very soul, were interrupting the silence. They were a sign of deep mourning.

Sheila was crouched beside the lifeless body of her brother and was only sobbing by this time. She had shed all her tears and her screams were faded away but the grief was going to remain, though.

Several minutes had passed since then.  
Basically, none of the friends had moved one bit meanwhile. None of them was giving the impression that they wanted to rise again sometime and continue their way in search for a portal out of this realm; even without their youngest member.  
You'd almost think that they wanted to sit and wait there forever, abandoning themselves to their sorrow.

If an enemy - especially Venger - had an appearance in these moments, he would have had an easy going with the Young Ones: one dead, the other five as good as. Their resistance as normally expected was broken long ago. There couldn't have been a better situation!

But they were lucky at this point: they didn't have to fear an attack from any foes, at least in this moment.

They were alone; everyone was occupied with his/her own grief.

That's why nobody noticed the faint movement.  
A low groaning followed after that before it changed into retching noises.

Sheila was the first of them to be aware of it since those sounds were coming right next to her.  
She lifted her head, her eyes widened when she realized where they actually came from.

Bobby's chest was raised and lowered irregularly!

She quickly glanced at his face. His eyes were still closed, though, but they were shifting restlessly behind the lids.  
The retching noises were coming from him without any doubt.

"Bobby? Oh my god... Bobby..." Sheila whispered hoarsely.

She laid her arms around him and lifted his body.

And there the completely unimaginable thing happened: the boy presumed dead opened his eyes again!

The girl gasped in shock while staring down at her brother unbelievingly.

"Hank... Hank! HANK!" Her words were raspy but yet loud enough to call the other's attention to the scene.

"What the...?" Eric blurted out while they were staring at the previously lifeless young Barbarian.

Bobby retched again in Sheila's arms.  
She instinctively turned her brother over and he threw up into the grass right away.  
They, looking both disgusted and fascinated at the same time, watched the kid spitting out a purple coloured liquid.  
After that he gasped for breath and sank back into his sister's arms, completely exhausted.

"Bobby... oh Bobby..." Sheila said happily, hugging her brother tightly. "You... you're alive..."

The last tears were running down her cheeks, but those were tears of joy.

The boy was still too weak to complain about this embarrassing situation. So, he let it happen without any protest; feeling relieved on his part as well.

~.~.~.~

_As opposed to Sheila and her turning into a vampire in the 'Forest of the Damned', he knew exactly what had happened in the meantime._

_Like Venger had already guessed, in spite of his apparently apathetic-looking condition, he was well aware of everything that happened around him - from his kidnapping to his rescue right up to his 'homicide' - but wasn't able to react to it because of the poisoning.  
He had mentally struggled against the malicious effect of the disease at first, though, but was dragged into it deeper and deeper as a result._

_So, he was in his right mind when Sheila had drowned him in the sea. And he also knew why she had done it and how difficult it had been for her._

_Suddenly he was filled with affection for his sister. Now he regretted not having ever told her how much he loved her despite her persistent overprotection_

_After he had closed his eyes - forever, as everybody thought at the beginning - he felt leaving his body._

_You could imagine his shock when he had to look at his own dead body. An adult wouldn't have coped very well with this sight for sure. How was a 10 year old boy supposed to do so?_

_And yet he wasn't shocked in the least. He neither was scared nor confused. He just knew that it was 'right'.  
Though, a feeling of dismay came over him when he watched his sister and his friends mourning for him. They were so depressed because of him..._

_"You need not to be concerned about them. They will vanquish their grief some day." somebody spoke to Bobby._

_He didn't even wince at the unexpected sound of the voice and also didn't bother to turn around, he already knew who it was._

_"Yeah, maybe... but it still hurts to see them like that..." he answered sadly._

_"Why certainly! The efforts of your predestinated impossible salvation and the guilt they have taken upon themselves with your alleged death would have been in vain, if this were not the case." The protector stepped beside him._

_The two ghostly shapes watched the Young Ones, without being perceived by human eyes._

_"Alas, it is time. We need to go now, my boy. Say goodbye to them and come with me. I will lead you to the place where the other 'Deceased Ones of the Sea' are located as well. Do not worry, you will fare well with them there." the keeper remarked, already turning around._

_"No, I wanna stay here!" Bobby objected quietly but firmly. "Please..."_

_"I am sorry, but this is impossible. You cannot sojourn here in the twilight zone. This is only allowed to us protectors, only we are authorized to travel between the different worlds. Your place is destined among the 'Deceased Ones' now. Only there you will find your peace. It would be much too dangerous for you to be here in the twilight zone. There are a few vicious creatures..." the keeper replied and stopped._

_"I... I can't leave them. That just ain't right! Please, can I stay here?" the boy turned towards the protector pleadingly._

_The keeper shook his head. "Look, the others are already awaiting you to welcome you with pleasure. You will be treated well!"  
With that he pointed into the distance where a bright light was shining. You really could spot several figures which gave the appearance of being friendly._

_"They will be your family from now on. You must let go of your sister and your friends. If you stay here, they will never be able to get over their mourning. They would sense your presence and they would never let you go and forget you. They still would have the vague hope that you will return to them one day. Do you really want to burden them with that?"_

_"No, I don't, but..." the Barbarian admitted, glancing at his desperate sister. "I don't wanna leave them. I wanna be with them... Can I?"_

_"You mean, you want to be back into your body again, Deceased One?"_

_Bobby nodded. "Is that possible? Oh, please, let me go back. I don't wanna live with the other diseased. I wanna be with my sister and my friends again!"_

_According to his behavior, the keeper wasn't very pleased about this request altogether.  
"Well, since your friends have pulled you out of the water again, it stands open for you to return into the mortal world, as a matter of fact. There are two ways open for you: the one to the other 'Deceased Ones' or back into your mortal body. However, this free decision will not be granted to everyone. The ones who stay in water are not supposed to choose. There's only one way for them, and that inevitably leads to one's equals: 'The Deceased Ones'. But the ones who were brought ashore again in a cured condition - as you were - are permitted to decide on one's destination for themselves. That is stated in our 'Laws of the Sea'. And if this is your greatest wish..."_

_"It is!" Bobby proclaimed emphatically._

_The protector sighed. "Each time I wonder why human beings are just not willing to accept things how they are, without questioning them right away and thus wanting to change them. I'm afraid, this is one thing I will never understand. I mean, why for heaven's sake would anyone prefer - by one's own choice, mind you - the hard worldly life to the lightheartedness of the 'Deceased Ones'?"_

_" 'cause I love them all..." the boy whispered truthfully._

_"Oh yes, love... it effects so many things; not only in your world, young Barbarian. Oftentimes, it is the impulse for many actions, as well as the circumstance of your physical death..." the spirit nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully.  
"Well then, so be it! You will go back into your body." he continued after a short pause. "But keep in mind, with this step the access to the realm of the dead will be denied to you so long as you are about die again. For this reason, I'm asking you now for the last time: are you really inclined to give up your current existence as a spirit, where all the negative feelings like pain, sorrow, hatred, wrath and suffering have no meaning at all, in order to return to the realm you have lived in up to your hour of death?"_

_The Barbarian nodded, looking determined at the other ghost._

_"Close your eyes, then." the protector ordered._

_The boy did it without thinking. The keeper touched the child's heart, directly after that Bobby felt something pulling at him. He literally sensed himself slipping back into his own body; noticed the rough ground he was lying on and his wet clothes sticking to his body. An nausea was overcoming him right away. He then started retching..._

~.~.~.~

And now here he was; back again among the living, hugged by his sister so firmly as if she never ever wanted to release him again. He remembered how much he had missed her and was glad about his decision.

Happy about that, he returned the hug.

"I'm soo glad you're back! Without you, I wouldn't have been happy ever again. How could I've ever forgiven myself what I've done to you? Oh, please forgive me!" Sheila cried quietly into his ear. She then gently eased their embrace and gazed at him.

He nodded and smiled faintly. "I love you, Sis." he muttered softly as well, carefully ensuring that the other Young Ones didn't hear him.

The rest of their group was gathering around them, sheer disbelief written on their faces.

"Hey, guys." Bobby greeted the others, still a bit weak.

"Gee Bobby, we really thought you were... well..." Presto trailed off.

"Welcome back, short stuff. Long time no see." Eric joked, still a bit shocked.

"Riiight, Eric." the other boy replied with a ghost of a grin.

The poisoning appeared to be completely gone; the cheerfulness has finally returned to him again.

"Yeah, nice to see you again." Hank commented affectionately, smiling relieved at the youngest.

"How is all that even possible? That's a miracle!" Diana was astonished, wiping over her eyes.

"Well, we rather call it 'Nature's Law' than to simply claim it as a 'miracle'." someone announced behind them.

They all turned around and watched the protector, they met earlier at the sea and Bobby then later on as a spirit, approaching them.

"Like we have already tried to explain you, the heart of the poisoned one had to stop beating so that the water can enclose it and purify it of the poison. That's the only way to avoid death by the poison itself. It always has to be done like that.  
After that there's the possibility for us to revive the dead person if he or she wishes for it.  
But it is, was and always will be that not all poisoned ones are able or are allowed to be back to life again after their recovery, because only very few of them, who even make or have made it this way to the sea at all, came here with friends or relatives.  
They did not have anyone to pull them out of the water so that they could be resurrected at seashore again. For most of them, there was nothing else left than to commit suicide. They drowned themselves and remained in the water. This is the reason why they were denied a second chance to live. Thus it is written in our laws. They just stay dead." the keeper explained, being more kindly now than at their first meeting, and stared at the Barbarian.

Bobby nearly blurted out that the protector had explained that to him exactly the same way just a few moments ago.  
But he changed his mind just in time.  
He didn't want to tell anyone about it and worry the others with his experience as a ghost. No one should ever get to know about it! He swore that to himself in this very moment. That's why he kept silent.

They then heard a bleat and even before anyone could react, Uni leaped into Bobby's arms, licking over his face joyfully.

"Uni!" the boy called out with both surprise and delight and snuggled up to his little friend. "Aw, did you miss me as much as I did?"

Her answer came as another bleat.

Sheila watched the two youngest with a smile. Hank placed a hand on her shoulder, she quickly turned around to him, still smiling.

"Um, is it really over now?" the Magician inquired, slightly worried about a possible negative reply.

"Yes, the poisoning is gone. Your young friend is completely cured again. His body has ejected the poison, his heart was purified." the keeper confirmed, pointing at the vomit.

"So, there's no way for him to suffer a relapse or something along these lines?"

"No, at least as long as he does not eat from the berries again..."

"Well, we're gonna take care of that, now more than ever!" the leader stated sternly but yet with a touch of leniency.

The young Barbarian hung his head. That certainly meant he won't be allowed to go anywhere without at least one 'custodian' for quite a while. Only because of such dumb berries! He sighed audibly.

"Oh well, if you'd listened to me, we would have stayed in this small 'hicksville'. So, all of this wouldn't have happened in the first place." the Cavalier chimed in.  
He has regained his usual sarcastic nature, after it was clear to everyone that Bobby was healed thoroughly.

"Eric." the Ranger shot a warning glance at the other boy, which clearly signified that he shouldn't start that again.

After all, this whole mess was due to Eric for the main part, somehow. If he hadn't argued with Bobby in the forest, the kid perhaps wouldn't ever have found this tree. But now it was too late for that and it didn't help at all to second-guess the Cavalier. Bobby was fine again and nothing else matters at the moment.

However, it was not wise to give Eric space to chatter in order to possibly raise another argument with that.

"Why, ain't I right? We'd have had a quite comfortable place to sleep at least. But nah, our tour guide had to show up again, talking us into a new _exciting _travel! Oh, if I ever get ahold of this Little Red Riding Hood..."

"_Eric!_"Hank's warning got harsher.

"Well, I think Eric's right, um sort of." Diana began but was cut short in mid-sentence by the Cavalier. "Great, just stab another kni- ohhh, nevermind."

"Should have waited a sec with your rant, eh?" the Acrobat, obviously amused by the other youth's puzzled face, winked at Eric. "Dungeon Master should have been honest, instead of lying to us! No matter how you look at it, Hank, but that's a fact."

The leader shook his head. "Do you think we still would have taken on this long journey so full of hope if Dungeon Master had told us plainly that the only question is in which way Bobby was going to die in the end? If he'd make it clear right at the beginning that the water will help only if we're gonna drown Bobby?"

"I'd have gone this way in any case!" Sheila proclaimed, exceedingly determined. "Even the realization that the result might not turn out as desired couldn't have stopped me as well. I'd do anything for my brother and also for my friends, since you all are the most important thing left to me in this miserable realm, something that still reminds me of home. The only reason for me to keep going..." she trailed off.

The other Young Ones hadn't expected so much honesty. They looked at the girl surprised.

"Well, maybe it would have been much easier for me if I had known that there wasn't any hope instead of coming here and then get to know that it was in vain after all... it wouldn't have been so... unexpected..." Presto pointed out.

"Though I don't think that it really would have been easier for us if we had known, it doesn't matter anymore. Bobby's safe and sound again. This is basically more than I've expected until recently. We came this way to heal him and that's just what we did even though it didn't look like that at first. He's alive; that's all that counts, right?" the Ranger turned towards the reunited group.

One by one they nodded their approvals.

"That's why we also can focus on our original plan again: Marius, the keeper of the portal."

"Do you really wanna go to see this Marius now? After all we've gone through recently?" the Cavalier inquired, not quite delighted.

"Why not? Now more than ever, I'd say. What other bad things are supposed to be there for us now? We've just cheated death, in fact." Diana grinned.

"Oh brother, I give up! Very likely, I'll never see the day in this life when everyone agrees with me..." Eric sighed exaggeratedly. "So, when do we set off?"

"Right now, preferably. But there's no point in doing so since it's getting dark. Maybe we should better stay here tonight." Hank suggested.

The keeper cleared his throat. The Young Ones turned around to face him.

"There's a small village nearby, as well an inn perchance still hosting you at this time. It is estimated to reach it in half an hour since it is located not far from here. You ought to get there in time before nightfall, if you hurry up."

"Uh, ok. Thanks." Hank uttered and addressed his friends. "Ok, guys, let's hurry up now so that we arrive at this place before it's getting too dark to see anything."

"Do you think you're able to walk that far already, Bobby?" Sheila asked with concern.

"Sure, I'm ok." he replied, getting up a bit too quickly, which resulted in a slight dizziness.

"Maybe we should stay here yet..." the girl considered aloud.

"I'm gonna make it, Sheila." her brother assured her.

Even though she wasn't quite convinced about that, she didn't say another word but put her Cloak over him instead so that he won't catch a cold in his wet clothes.

"Ok, let's go." the leader told them and pulled an arrow from his Bow to light their way.

"I dare not to say 'until we meet again' in this case as another return would signify no good. Thus we rather do not want to bid you welcome here at the sea ever again. However, we wish you all the best... Fare thee well!" the protector stated, creating the feeble impression that he was actually glad to cast them off at last.

"Yeah, we also wouldn't be very pleased of being forced to come back here... Thank you very much for your help!" the Ranger admitted, waving goodbye to the keeper.

The others followed their leader and turned away, leaving the 'Sea of Madness' behind which had brought them both good and evil.

* * *

**A/N:**

Well, here it finally is: the long ago promised sequel of 'Seas of Madness', although more than 6 years later than actually expected...

As you've all probably already noticed, English isn't my native language. There's a high chance that the grammar isn't always right, as well as the comma placement.  
Here in Germany we love to put commas nearly everywhere ;)  
So, if you find any mistakes please feel free to point them out!

At first I had the quite dark concept of Bobby staying dead and the others coping with it more or less (despite the fact that he is my favorite character).  
Surely it would have been interesting to see how they were going to take their loss.

But one year after posting the last chapter of 'Seas' my granny suddenly died and writing stories faded into background since I then had to take care of my beloved grandpa (who had dementia at that time) - until he died too in October 2012.

It was then when I remembered the promise to continue a sequel, though it took another two years to finally finish it halfway ('halfway' 'cause I don't have the final chapter ready yet but there's something you could call an end to this story after all and there's already stuff for a sequel to this sequel in my head but I don't want to put it here but rather into a separate story. I still have to draw the line from the 'end' of this story to the beginning of the above mentioned 'sequel', though, but I wanted to post this story even so now... no matter if there's an actual ending ready or not!)

Well, I could have written my own grief into the story, at least it would have been quite genuine :/ But I didn't want that direction anymore so I decided to rewrite the story completely where Bobby's going to be resurrected.

Sorry to those who had hoped to see what the other Yound Ones will do after his death - especially to you, Rana Kane &amp; D.B. Cooper - I kind of feel like I've disappointed you for not keeping up the not-so-happy-ending after all by resurrecting Bobby... even though I personally prefer stories with a darker tone as well!

Honestly, I couldn't stand him being dead from now on, there was too much 'real death' around me to also write about it.  
Besides who else am I going to write arguing with Eric so passionately when the youngest has passed away ? ;)

But... does this also automatically mean that really _everything_ is ok?  
So, let's see if there will be something like an happy end after all!

However I hope you'll like &amp; enjoy it - and that they aren't OOC, after all!

Thanks for reading :)

and a Happy New Year to you!


	2. Drifting memories

**2\. Drifting memories**

After three-quarters of an hour they reached the small village.  
Shortly after that they also found the inn and entered right away.

In one corner of the dimly with candles and torches lit room a group of 4 musicians was playing a melancholic instrumental with flute, harp, hurdy-gurdy and bodhrán.  
The few guests, who were there except them, turned around, eyeing them with blatant curiosity.

Uni expressed her discomfort with a soft bleat.  
Bobby reached out for his little companion instinctively, silently stroking over her mane. That soothed her noticeably.

The innkeeper was standing behind his counter, being deep in conversation with a guest up until now.

His wife, a cheery beautiful woman with a Rubenesque figure and shoulder-length brown curls, washing up a few mead mugs beside her husband, now lowered one of the mugs back into the water again and approached the Young Ones with a warm-hearted smile upon her face, rubbing her hands dry with her apron.

"Good evening! You're more than welcome in our little tavern 'The Three Golden Moons'. How may I help you at so late an hour?"

"Um, we're... we're in search for a place to stay for tonight..." Hank answered, honestly surprised by this kind welcome.

"Then this is the right place to find it, my dears." the woman beamed at them. "I will show you the rooms right away."

She surveyed the group until her eyes fastened on the Barbarian. Her smile vanished.  
"You all look exhausted, hungry and tired. You seem to have suffered a whole lot..." she assumed worriedly.

"Yeah, that's for sure! We were just coming from the _Sea of Madness_..." Diana remarked slowly, glancing over to Bobby, who was standing there wrapped up in Sheila's Cloak, dripping wet and slightly shivering from the cold.

The woman followed her gaze - and understood, suspected what might have taken place.  
She had immediately thought that something must have happened to the young boy - apart from the quite obvious fact that he was soaked to the skin.

He had that certain 'something' all those poor souls get, who had been staring death in the face at the _Sea of Madness _\- and were able to escape from its merciless grip again.  
She knew this facial expression pretty well, they were living in close vicinity to this notorious sea after all.

So, this child wasn't the first surviving victim of the sea they've ever met - although the first for a considerable time.

Many of those grief-stricken poisoned ones - partly on their own, partly accompanied by friends and/or relatives - stopped at this place on their last rest before arriving at their final destination.  
A few of them returned but most were never seen again...

"If you wish I can see to it that you get a hot meal as well." the innkeeper's wife offered instead without asking further questions about it.

"We'd really appreciate that but I'm afraid we don't have any gold. To be honest, we aren't even able to afford the rooms, actually..." the leader explained hesitantly.

"Oh, don't worry about that! You're welcome to stay overnight completely for free and you also don't have to pay for the meal. I daresay you had to go through more than enough. And I'm glad to be able to help you out a bit in this way."

"Thank you ever so much!" Sheila let out, looking fairly relieved.

"You're welcome, my dear." the wife replied. "And now, please follow me. I would like to show you the chambers so that you can refresh yourselves and rest a little before dinner. In addition, I will check if we've got a couple of dry garments for the boy. Under no circumstances, he ought to keep his wet clothes on and risk a severe influenza in doing so."

With that, they followed the woman upstairs.

"Unfortunately, I can only offer you double rooms with two single beds each. I hope this is all right with you."

"Of course! Anyway, we're more than grateful to have a safe place to stay for today." Hank assured.

The woman nodded and showed them the three double rooms she had chosen for the Young Ones.

There wasn't much inside their rooms apart from the two beds. It was quite appropriately and sparsely furnished but yet comfortable.

When entering, a sideboard was placed on the right of the heavy wooden door. A few towels, a bowl and a water pitcher with fresh water were on top of it  
The two single beds, separated by a small table, were opposite the door and the sideboard.  
There was a chair and a looking worn out bedside rug at the outside of each bed.  
A wide window with a broad window sill was on the wall between one of the beds and the sideboard.

The friends agreed that the two girls were going to share one room, Eric and Presto the other one and Bobby was entrusted to Hank's care.

As promised, the innkeeper's wife brought something clean to wear for him: a plain linen shirt, though oversized, blackish leather pants and a pair of grey felt boots.  
In a way, those clothes imparted an amazing resemblance with the Realms denizens to him more than ever...

Some time later the woman informed them of their meal being ready.

When the friends re-entered the lounge of the tavern most guests were already gone, except three elderly men and of course the couple owning the hostelry.

The musicians were gone to their bedrooms as well, their instruments were left behind in the now dark corner.

The Young Ones sat down at the table, where plates filled with steaming dishes were already waiting for them.

Bobby picked at his food halfheartedly.

"Come on, Bobby. You finally have to eat something to regain your strength." Sheila reminded her brother.

The Barbarian grimaced, eventually pushing away his entire plate. "But this tastes worse than lentil soup!" he moaned.

The host frowned at him disapprovingly.

"Bobby!"

"Uh-huh! How about fruits instead, sir? Plum-like berries are highly recommended today." Eric just couldn't miss a chance of mocking Bobby.

Since the boy was still weak due to the recently survived poisoning along with its side effects, he hadn't gotten back his usual argumentativeness yet. That's why he didn't bother to reply anything at all but only gave the older boy a very dirty look instead.

Sighs of relief were uttered all-around the two normally bickering boys.

Another argument really wasn't what they were looking for right now.

After dinner, they all were sitting together by the fireside, hunched over a map.

The last remaining guests had left the tavern a few moments ago, the Young Ones were alone now.  
The two innkeepers were cleaning up their pub.

"All right. We're here and there's the other village, 'Green Mountains'. If we take this way we should be there by, um, early afternoon, I suppose." Hank told them, pointing at a path on the map.

"Aw, nuts! Why didn't anyone here ever come up with the idea to lay rails across the whole Realm? I mean, think about it! You would be way faster with train or at least shuttle bus." Eric scoffed.

"Ohh, you're forgetting airplanes. That would definitively be the fastest way from A to B." Diana teased, though serious-looking but way too serious to really mean it that way.

Presto sniggered about Diana's witty retort and the sore expression of his friend afterwards.

Every once in a while, Sheila was taking a peek at her brother, who hadn't taken any part in their conversation so far.  
Instead of that he was silently staring into the fire, stroking Uni, who had snuggled up to him, nearly absentminded.

She shivered at this sight, which reminded her so much of those terrible moments inside Venger's castle when the youngest of their group was sitting huddled up in a cage, not being aware at all what was happening around him.

"Everything all right?" the Ranger questioned her softly.

But before the Thief could answer him, Bobby suddenly got up.

"I'm going to sleep. Good night." he declared.

He didn't even wait for their responses but turned around right away and left with his little unicorn in tow to go to his bedroom.

His sister and his friends watched him go with mixed feelings.

"I really hope we're gonna find the keeper of the portal soon. The sooner we get out of this world the better. I'm very worried about Bobby. Although the Protectors of the Sea had assured us that the poisoning was completely cured, he's changed a lot... I fear that the disease has worn him out pretty much - perhaps even more than we think..." Sheila expressed her concern.

"Maybe tomorrow at this time we'll be home again. There Bobby - all of us, in fact - can get over the things happened here in the Realms and forget about them." the Ranger tried to calm her.

"Yeah, Hank's right. It's very likely that Bobby will be his old self again real soon now. Just give him some time. He had to go through quite a lot after all - especially lately 'cause of his poisoning." Diana added.

In the meantime, Bobby was standing at his bedroom window, gazing into the starlit sky.

Sighing deeply, he turned away and went to bed.

Uni snuggled up to him, nudging him gently.

"Aww Uni, I'd like to tell the others so badly what's happened with me at this sea. But I can't.  
They likely won't understand it or even believe me but rather think that I had imagined everything.  
And Eric would only make fun of me again. The dumb Cavalier!  
He then would persist in saying I'm gone insane.  
But I ain't! I really did see it all. I was actually _dead _and a _ghost!  
_I guess they would worry about me once again when they're gonna hear it. I don't want that, though! They've had way too much fuss recently 'cause of me. I don't wanna be another burden for them...  
Nope, I can't and don't wanna tell them! They'll never know... even though I'd like to talk about it after all. I just can't.  
But... I've gotta tell someone.  
The memories of my experiences are tormenting me somehow, I can't help thinking about them all the time. They're bothering me and affecting me more than I've thought at first - much more than I'd ever admit towards the others..." the young Barbarian declared quietly and looked at his little friend who in turn watched him closely.

"But I'm gonna tell you. I know you won't think I'm nuts. I trust you. You'll never give me and my secret away. I'll share this secret with no one but you!"

He then leaned forward and whispered his encounter with the protector as a spirit into his loyal unicorn's ears, very confident that she would understand him and never betray him...

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope no one's offended by my description of the Innkeeper's wife.  
Of course it wasn't intended as a discrimination since I resemble her appearance myself quite a bit ;)

I've created a picture with the help of the designer tool 'roomstyler. com' to visualize the Young Ones' tavern rooms (sorry, since ff. net doesn't support links inside posts you have to ** remove all **the underlines in the link below to view it):

http:_/_/_roomstyler._com_/users/426362/rooms/8356688


	3. Those things we don't speak of

**3\. Those things we don't speak of**

When Hank entered the room short time later he found Bobby sleeping - at least he assumed the kid to be asleep as he didn't stir.  
The regular deep breaths he heard shortly afterwards confirmed his guess.

And so, the youth went to bed as well feeling both pleased and relieved.

But in the middle of the night - or was it already near break of day? - Hank was awakened from sleep by something.  
There, in the semi-darkness of the chamber, something was moving in front of the window.

When he looked closer he recognized Bobby, who was sitting on the window sill, apparently watching the forthcoming sunrise.

"Bobby?" he quietly addressed the youngest of the group, being anxious not to startle him too much.

Conscience-stricken, he noticed that the Barbarian winced anyway, before turning his head towards the oldest Young One to let him know he had heard him.

"Everything ok?" the Ranger continued, getting out of bed as well and crossing the room towards the window.

"Sure... I just couldn't sleep anymore. That's all..." Bobby replied. "Sorry if I woke you up..."

"Don't worry, kiddo, you didn't." Hank answered, frowning in concern at the younger boy. "Are you really sure that everything's all right?"

"Yes, Hank, I'm fine... I... I'm still a bit... um... shaken... 'cause of the poisoning." he assured him.

"Don't be ashamed of telling us if something's troubling you - no matter what it is. You can turn to one of us with your problems at any time. You know we're always there for you, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know... Thanks, Hank!" A warm-hearted smile passed over the young Barbarian's face. Hank sensed its sincerity and was reassured - slightly at least.

The Ranger nodded and peered out of the window, barely suppressing a yawn.  
The past few days had been more exhausting than initially thought and they were starting to exact their toll. The lack of sleep was one of the more pleasant consequences.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna sleep a while when everything's all right so far. You should better go back to bed as well, don't you think so? You have to catch up a lot of sleep and your body requires the dormant phase." Hank directed towards Bobby again.

"Nah, I don't wanna sleep - not right now, at least - 'cause I ain't tired any longer. I'd much rather just sit here a little while and look out the window." he objected with a shake of his head.

"Ok, if you like... But as soon as you're gonna get tired once more you should lay down again. After all, there are a few more hours left till dawn... Please promise me to wake me up immediately if you need something or don't feel well!"

"I promise."

"Ok. Very well then... Good night, Bobby!" Hank nodded and went back to bed with this.

Although he didn't really like the idea of leaving the youngest alone to himself and his own thoughts all that much, he couldn't stay awake any longer for anything in the world; possibly not even when his very own life should depend on it - though it would be a completely different matter when it comes to his friends' lives, of course - but he was feeling safe here in this pub that there was no need for him to worry, for the duration of their stay at least.

As it turned out, the worries about the terminally ill boy had given them all a hard time.

A few hours later Hank woke up again. However, this time he was relaxed, sleep was a benefit.

He realized the bright daylight in their room, meaning that it was time to get up now.

The youth turned his head and peered at the Barbarian's bed but against his expectations it was empty.  
At a dash Hank got out of bed, already being about to start the search for the kid when he stopped short: Bobby, still sitting on the window sill, was sound asleep - nearly in the same pose when Hank left him during the night: his knees were pulled up to his chest, his arms were wrapped around them, his head was leaned against the window.

"Poor boy! He's gotta be really finished..." the Ranger announced quietly, looking at him fondly.

Uni, who was resting at her guardian's feet beneath the sill, lifted her head.

Hank picked up the blanket and carefully covered the sleeping boy.  
He then turned around and gazed down at their pet.

"You're gonna take care of him, aren't you?" he muttered more to himself than to her.

Her ears were moving constantly, like small satellites, while she was watching him with wide, attentive eyes.

Not for the first time, the Ranger wondered how much of this was actually comprehended by the little unicorn, how much she and Bobby really mean to each other and if there even was a non-verbal communication between the two of them.  
The Cavalier might call her 'stupid', but sometimes Hank himself had certain doubts about it.

He eventually left the bedroom.

The other Young Ones were up as well. They already got together in the lounge of the pub.  
The innkeeper's wife was serving them breakfast just then.

"Hey Hank." Diana greeted when they caught sight of him.

"Good morning, guys." the leader greeted back and sat down next to Presto.  
"Bobby's still sleeping. The poor guy woke up at night and fell asleep in front of the window... I didn't have the heart to wake him now. That's why I let him sleep on." he explained to Sheila, as she looked at him with a questioning look.

The girl nodded sympathetically.

So they started to have breakfast without Bobby.  
They nearly had finished eating when the young Barbarian showed up in the lounge as well.  
He was wearing his now dried familiar outfit again.

"Morning." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes still a bit drowsy, and took a seat beside the Acrobat on a bench.

"Ah, our Sleeping Beauty has finally been awakened from his deep slumber as well. Hope ye had a good rest."

"Eric!" Sheila admonished him, after a quick scrutinizing look at her brother.

"What? That was only meant to be a casual greeting - although ambiguous, I admit. You know, it's just like saying 'hello' in a different and more creative way...  
Jeez, have you all lost your sense of humor lately?" Eric said shrugging.

"Not exactly, but I think that particular joke was a cheap shot nonetheless." Hank stepped in reassuringly, already expecting new trouble.

And he proved to be right after all: this time the youngest didn't back off as he had done once already on the evening before.

"Just leave me alone, Er-ic!" Bobby snarled, being wide awake now.

"Ohhh, are we in a bad mood today?"

"As long as I'm forced to endure your presence..."

"You don't really expect that I always have to keep myself informed about your current state of mind at first before I'm allowed to do or say something which might be offending you or spoiling your mood otherwise, do you? You've gotta be kidding! I don't need anybody telling me how to be or behave - least of all _you_!" the Cavalier retorted condescendingly and raised an eyebrow.

Bobby glanced at the older boy for a moment, lips curled to a sneer.  
"Well, I'd really love to see what it would have been like for _you _after eating these fruits. I'm quite sure even _you _ain't gonna talk big any more after that." he scoffed.

"Yeah right, as if that would ever happen! 'cause _I _just ain't so stupid to eat some berries I don't even recognize, in the first place. Besides, everyone knows that things with such a remarkable color can't be anything else than poisonous. The fly agaric - often commonly known as a 'toadstool', for your information - is a very good example for this rule as well. But it's quite obvious to me that the knowledge about this whole thing has passed _you _by completely... I've known all along that there's a mental vacuum beneath your helmet!" Eric shot back right away.

"Hey! Take that back, _Cavalier_!"

"Why should I, fearless Barbarian? That's the absolute truth, after all!"

"Oh really? Ain't you the one who tends to bend the truth every now and then?"

"And what exactly do you wanna tell me with that?"

"Aw come on! Who was the one, being so _stupid _to smell at a flower whose dust had a transforming effect, again? What did Dungeon Master tell us about it shortly before? 'watch out for the good that spits out the bad' - or something like that. And now, guess who didn't pay attention to this more than obvious warning! Well, you were doing very well as a bogbeast, anyway."

"So, what else is new? Everybody here has already had a good laugh about me being a bogbeast, after all. And if I remember correctly, you haven't been a non-participant in this matter, as often as you rehash that over and over again. I'll tell you something: it's getting awfully boring after a while...  
by the way, what does this have anything to do with your 'truth' now? 'cause I absolutely don't see any possible connection between that and what you've just said...  
Well, I mean, after all, you've been a much more 'interesting' sight than me as a bogeast, weeping like that... Aww, such a picture of misery you were!  
Stubbornly demonstrating us all the time how already 'grown up' he claims to be, but yet cried his very eyes out like a baby...  
If you ask me you are and still will remain just a little kid to me. What do you think about it, _Barby_?"

Suddenly the youngest jumped to his feet, eyes narrowed to slits, raising his Club. "I ain't a _little kid_ any more, got that? I'll show you..." he hissed threateningly.

But before Bobby unflinchingly could take another step towards Eric, Hank intervened.

He seized the angry Barbarian by his arm and pulled him back a bit.

"This ends right now! It's enough, you hear? I'm at the end of my patience with the two of you. I don't mind if you're gonna get out of the other boy's way as far as possible here in the Realms and ignore and don't talk to one another for a while or whatever - but stop fighting about even the slightest ridiculous reasons and insulting and also goading each other on top of that, for heaven's sake! I'm completely serious about it!"

Bewildered by the harsh tone of his beloved leader, the boy stared at the Ranger, open-mouthed.

Hank really gotta be serious since he never had been that strict with him, Bobby thought to himself.

But Eric definitely hadn't the right to treat him so condescendingly, only because the Cavalier can't stand him that much - and in addition to that he was also the youngest among them. It just wasn't fair! As if it was his own fault that he simply was a few years younger than the others...

As he absolutely didn't like - and even less wasn't used to - being snapped at by Hank, Bobby slowly lowered his Club, though his eyes were still fixed on Eric relentlessly.

"Aw, let's go already to this keeper!" the Magician pressed and rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed.

The other Young Ones shared Presto's opinion, more or less.  
Their impatience with the two of them was steadily growing as well.  
By now, they all were sick and tired of being compelled to put up with the ongoing quarrels between Eric and Bobby.

Their persistent arguments implied that not even the return from the dead had some positive effects on the relationship of the two boys, but rather the exact opposite was the case: it was only getting all the worse with them as a result.

Was the increased argumentativeness of the already very easily irritable Barbarian perhaps an unpleasant aftermath of the poisoning?

"That's perfectly fine with me. The sooner I get away from here the better." Eric announced, glaring directly at Bobby, who got himself into another retort once again, like so many times before.

"Right! You'd really do us all a big favor with that. _I'd_ be very glad about it, that is." he pointed out defiantly through gritted teeth.

"Great, looks like you two at least agree on one thing." Diana commented wryly, trying to avoid an escalation of this nasty conflict. "Very well then. Let's go, guys."

So the Young Ones gave their thanks for the more than kind hospitality and said their goodbyes to the innkeepers. They then set off to the place _Green Mountains_.

Bobby cheered up again the closer they got to the village. His dark thoughts and the trouble with Eric were all blown away by the pleasant anticipation of home. He faintly smiled to himself, mentally already back in his familiar surroundings.  
However, his sister's timid voice yanked him back to reality again.

"Look, there's the village!"

When catching sight of the place ahead of them, they didn't happily rush to it but stopped dead instead.

* * *

**A/N:**

If you were wondering why exactly Eric called Bobby 'Barby' (except for teasing him, of course) it's actually not because of the famous doll of the same name many kids (including me, and mostly girls I would assume) grew up with but rather as a fusion of his real name and his title/nickname.  
Besides, Barby is a Diminutive of the female name Barbara which originated from the Greek word 'barbaros' meaning strange/foreign or stranger/foreigner, ironically also translates into barbarian...

and as to why Bobby wasn't feeling insulted by this rather female name but for being regarded as a little kid, maybe he knows about the meaning of his name/title after all ;)


	4. Good news first

**4\. Good news first**

Totally shaken, they stared at the charred, still slightly smoking remains of the small town and its direct environments, formerly blossomed in a beautiful lush green.

"Oh my god, what's happened here?" Diana was asking the question every one of them had in mind, while looking around and slowly getting over the shock.

"Where have they all gone?" Bobby pondered aloud.

"Uhh, certainly not off to Disneyland, that's for sure." Presto retorted.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Hank shouted.

However, no one answered.  
They looked at each other and split up with a sense of foreboding.

"Well, that's just great! No one's here anymore. Probably they all 'moved away'..." Eric grumbled scowlingly, walking towards one of the once intact houses, which was only a ruin now.

He kicked a beam aside - and suddenly jumped back. "Whoa!"

"What's the matter, Eric?" Sheila wanted to know and stepped up to him.

"Ohhh..." she only let out when she also had a look at what has scared the Cavalier off that much.

"Hey, what's over there to see? Anything special?" Bobby asked curiously, coming closer to them.

"Oh, no, no, no. Don't look there by all means, Bobby!" the girl warned him insistently, blocking his view with outstretched arms.

"Why not?" the Barbarian demanded, trying to sneak past his sister.

"No, Bobby! I told you not to look! So don't, just... don't! Stay there were you are and _don't come closer_!" Sheila commanded her brother.

"Gee! Why ain't I allowed to see it, too?" he complained.  
"Well, all right! I'm already gone... I'm gonna scout around back there now!" he sulkily gave in after a while, turned around demonstratively and stomped off in another direction.

"I don't like that... I don't like that one bit!" the Thief whispered after she had turned around again, now looking with Eric at the ground in disgust.

There was a human hand underneath the rubble and ash!

You could clearly see that it was cut off prior to the fire because the flesh and the bone had a jagged slash across it, partly sticking out even. There was a large dark stain around the stump. The rest of the body was missing, though, but doubtlessly it was still located underneath the ruins.  
Possibly the blazing wooden beam dropped down onto the disembodied hand and had burned its flesh on this specific spot where it landed nearly beyond recognition. As a result of that, one finger had already fallen off, now lying in between the hand, more cremains than still skin and bones.

"Cover it up again! Please..." she implored Eric, turning away disgusted.

"With the greatest of pleasure." he nodded and moved the beam once again above the hand as fast as possible with his foot.

All of a sudden they heard a shriek.

"Good gracious, Bobby!" Sheila called out and burst off, suppressing vehemently the emerging déjà vu of the events in the 'Forest of the Damned'.

The others were coming together again at that to check as well what has happened.  
But when they got to Bobby, who was standing there paralyzed from shock, they didn't need to ask any questions.

"Oh no..." she gasped and hugged her slightly trembling brother, turning him around so that he didn't have to stare at it any longer.

"He... he just lay there..." he stammered.

"Shh, it's ok." his sister comforted him.

She couldn't help looking over his shoulder and was sorry about it right away. Somehow, this was worse than the chopped off hand!

In front of them in the dirt and ash a man was lying writhed besides the ruin that was probably once his home.  
His eyes were staring glazed and blank into the sky without ever seeing it. They still had the gruesome horror, they surely had to witness in contemplation of death, on them.  
His sprawled out arms were bent in an unnatural angle as if his bones had been broken, premortal.

A sword protruded from his chest, his ripped clothes were full of dried out blood. A scroll was pinned onto the sword.

"Who had done such a thing?" Presto wondered, shocked by this horrible sight.

Hank didn't answer him but stripped off the scroll instead and read it.  
His face darkened the longer he read on while the others were watching him eagerly.

"What's wrong?" the Acrobat inquired.

"I might have known it..." he grumbled, passing the note on to Diana, who eventually read it out aloud.

_Greetings, my young foes!_

_When you are reading these lines, you presumably will just have come upon the Keeper of the Portal you have been questing for. My congratulations!_

_Unfortunately, he will never be able to help you along now..._

_I have already paid him a visit a long time afore you and slayed him, while you went on the way to the 'Sea of Madness' to 'cure' your small Barbarian - as you surely have presumed, of course still unaware at this point of time - but in actual fact you have lead him to his very death straightaway with that instead._

_And if you are going to wonder what happened with the portal, be advised that it was destroyed for good by the fire ignited at my command._

_Ah, I dare to say you have come this way completely in vain, what a dissipation of time!_

_Although this concerns me not in the least, however, I would love to see your disappointed faces right now!_

_Well, if you had not rescued the insolent little brat to heal him in the first place but rather simply had abandoned him inside my castle to his predicted fate and had come here without delay instead, you certainly would have met the keeper being still alive - who sure enough would have sent you back again into your own world._

_But under these circumstances, you were definitely too late!_

_I will never conceive human beings and their feelings! You willingly relinquish your innermost wants and desires only to help another one of your kind..._

_Foolish sentimentalism, one day this will be the death of you all!_

_Well, I must confess, you verily have caught me off-guard in my castle._

_Indeed, I was absolutely convinced that you would not recover so swiftly from the shock and the capture of your beloved little one and that it would take you significantly longer time until you were finally capable of tracing my castle._

_By my reckoning, you ought to have arrived only after the boy himself - not only his condition, mind you - was already far beyond all hope._

_Nonetheless, you were supposed to attend his last agonizing breaths, as helpless eyewitnesses of his slow-paced unstoppable death, suffering under my sway._

_And yet you have ruined my plans once again but I have wreaked revenge on you for that by removing another opportunity for you to escape from the Realms._

_A fair price, wouldn't you agree?_

_Howsoever, be sure of my merciless wrath and your devastation by my might when we meet each other again next time._

_I will anticipate this day with the veriest pleasure._

_Up to that time..._

_Venger_

"Venger... who else!" Eric huffed.

"How awful! Those poor people! _They _hadn't done him any wrong, Venger chased after _us_, after all. Why oh why did he have to kill those poor villagers instead, then? I'm so sorry they had to die for that." the Thief lamented.

"Venger's a monster! He's really doing everything just to give us hell. Those folks here were only a means to an end for him. He didn't care anything at all about them 'cause he's a heartless, bloody fiend." Hank remarked angrily.

"No, it's my fault." Bobby piped up quietly and broke away from Sheila's hug, walking over to the dead keeper of the portal and kneeling down at his side.

"That's not true, Bobby!" the girl tried to convince her brother.

"Yes, it _is_! Venger's right, you've come into his castle for me. You've rescued me, taking the risk of being captured as well. You've gone with me to this sea to heal me 'cause I was too careless and ate some poisonous berries I didn't know. You didn't grab the chance to get home since I needed your help. Only on my behalf, we're still stuck here in this world and these people had to die for my sake. Venger had killed them 'cause of me..." the young Barbarian trailed off, covertly wiping over his eyes.

"No, Bobby. Listen to me, this isn't your fault!" Sheila came to her brother and put her arms around him again.

"Then why do I _feel so guilty_?" he demanded, inadvertently a tear was running down his cheek.

"But you couldn't have guessed anything of that! After all you didn't know that the fruits were poisonous... We all didn't expect Venger to turn up and neither you nor we could predict his cruel plan. So please, don't blame yourself for this."

"Sheila's right, Bobby. Venger's the only one who has to reproach himself. He alone is to blame for the unnecessary deaths of those villagers here, and none of us. We didn't even start this bitter fight. Maybe one day we could have made peace but Venger's absolutely unwilling to do so. He'll never leave us alone, not before he's gonna possess all of our weapons. His vicious intention is to make us blame ourselves for all of this and argue with each other about it, only to weaken us with that. Do you understand what I mean, Bobby? He's only written it in this way so that you're gonna blame _yourself _and believe that all of this here is truly _your _fault. He simply wants to hurt you with that and make you sad." the leader explained to Bobby.

"Really?" the boy inquired, looking up at the Ranger.

"Yeah, of course!" Hank reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder while smiling at him confidently. "And now, don't give that another thought, ok?"

"Ok!" the Barbarian nodded emphatically, wiping away the tears.

"What are we gonna do now? The portal's destroyed and the keeper..." the Magician didn't finish his sentence, shaking his head instead.

"Well, what we always do after a setback: don't give up and keep on searching! One of these days we're gonna be successful for once and surely find a portal taking us home." Hank proclaimed, looking at his friends one by one.

"Yeah! And we can only make it when we all stick together and help each other. With that, absolutely nothing's supposed to tear us apart, even if there are arguments sometimes - um well ok, plenty of times, actually... Standing up for one another entirely, that's the meaning of true friendship!" the Acrobat confirmed.

"Thanks, Diana. Perfectly put into words! Well, let's go back into the other village to think about our next steps. There's nothing we can do here any more." the Ranger said, stooped over the keeper of the portal and closed his eyes.

Although it would have been more respectful to remove the sword as well, however, he couldn't bring himself to even touch it, let alone bury the keeper's body.

With a nod of his head the leader indicated the group to follow him.  
So one by one they turned away from the keeper and his burned down village and followed Hank towards their previous inhabitation.

They were rather silent on their way back, being in a subdued mood. But this was quite reasonable after such a bitter disappointment.


	5. The Power of Love

**5\. The Power of Love**

It was already early evening when they got to the tavern again. Feeling down, they re-entered.

This time the musicians were playing a rousing drinking song. The guests were cheering, applauding and some of them were dancing to the jolly tunes.  
Even the innkeeper's wife was swaying to the music behind the counter but when she spotted the downcast Young Ones she immediately rushed to them.

"Good heavens! What has happened? Why are you still here?" she asked, looking worried.

An awkward silence followed this question.  
They became aware of the undivided attention of all guests inside the tavern since the band has just finished its song.

"We... we've come too late. The whole village was burned down... all its inhabitants are dead..." the Ranger began slowly.

"Oh, that's horrible!" the wife covered her mouth in shock. "How did that happen?" she wanted to know.

Sheila nervously glanced at Hank who answered for them.  
"It was Venger. He wanted to prevent us once more from coming home with this act."

A murmur went through the room at the mention of their arch enemy's name, revealing that he was both well known and dreaded here as well.

"It was bound to happen one day that this monstrosity will also bring fear and terror here to us. As if it weren't hard enough to live in immediate vicinity of this sinister sea..." the innkeeper's remark, who had joined them, verified this supposition.

"Could we perhaps...?" Presto started shyly.

"Of course you can move into your old rooms again. Be my guests! Just stay as long as you like." the woman beat him to it.

"I'm tired. I'm gonna go upstairs." the Barbarian mumbled, turning towards the stairway leading to their chambers.

He had already climbed the first flight of steps when Sheila called after him. "Wait, Bobby! What's the matter with you?"

He really stopped but didn't turn around and also didn't bother to reply.  
The girl parted from the others, approached her brother and stood still at the bottom landing.

"Is everything ok?" she inquired. "I know it's bad that we've missed a portal yet ag-"

He wheeled around to face them, interrupting her rudely.

"You don't know anything. Nothing at all, not a darn thing!" his voice was bristling with rage.

They all paused and stared at him, startled.

And then he burst out with everything - even forgetting his own pledge to never reveal this secret.

"You all don't have the slightest clue what happened with me up there at the sea! But I know what you've done: you've killed me, I've died.  
Yeah, I realized everything, downright _all of it _\- not only that one thing at the sea but all the other stuff before that, too...  
I was dead! I woke up as a ghost and saw you guys there at the sea.  
The protector had known all this. He wanted me to follow him to a weird place.  
I think it was heaven... and... I've seen granny... there... and I... I should go with him and stay there but... but I've decided against it 'cause I actually wanted to be with you so very much.  
That's why I agreed to come back again, back over here... and now, we've just missed another chance of getting home... and I really don't know now if I'm supposed to be either glad or rather sad about it, 'cause you'd never ever have allowed me to take Uni along, right?  
I should have left her here behind, but I can't do this - and also don't want to! I've gotta take care of her, she needs me... and I need her..."

Everybody was looking at the boy, entirely shocked by his words. No, they really had no idea what exactly he had to go through.  
If only they had paid more attention to the protector's words! He had already informed them about this circumstance, after all.  
However, they all were far too much engaged in rejoicing over the truly-raised-from-the-dead boy than to deal with this indirect hint - even less comprehend its true meaning.

Could it really be possible that he was in fact fully aware of everything that happened around him during his poisoning?  
After this 'confession' one could only assume...

Not only Presto was feeling very uncomfortable in this moment when he thought about it with a cold shiver that Bobby, being in his right mind, possibly even registered his very own 'death warrant' - decided unanimously on their youngest group member by all of them - as well as the entire 'execution' of the same!

Not even the knowledge that, without this indeed gruesome but yet necessary step, the boy would just have died from the poisoning - being irrevocably guided over to the realm of the dead in this way - could help them at last.

"Uh, you... you were a... ghost?" the Thief was horrified by this thought. "You could have gone to heaven - being together with grandma Heather there... where everything would be all right and you'd be fine..."

She was reproaching herself for failing to notice how much her little brother had been burdened by those events.

"I... I'm so sorry, Bobby, I didn't know..." she stuttered, however he wasn't listening to her any longer because he already turned around again abruptly and was running up the stairs.

"Oh, Bobby..." his sister breathed and ran after him.

Hank wanted to rush behind them as well but the Acrobat gently placed a hand on his arm, shaking her head.  
"Don't. I guess the two of them might want to sort it out among themselves, as siblings. So you better let them be on their own."

"Yeah, sure thing! However, I'm afraid that Sheila won't get through to him..." the Ranger pointed out.

"Don't worry, she'll make it." Diana said confidently.

"Could we perhaps turn our attention back again to a bit more important stuff now than to care about the highly doubtful mental state of the little squirt? Such as: do we get a 'compensation' for the went-down-the-drain portal?"

"Well, you know, with almost absolute certainty, a little more _sensibility _won't kill even _you_, Eric." Diana declared sarcastically, signaling the others to follow her.

The friends sat down at a table, nervously waiting for the two siblings to return.


	6. Lose you tonight

**A/N:**

In case you might think I've uploaded the wrong chapter, I announce in advance that this chapter's beginning (and a bit in the middle) really IS like the first, up to a certain point at least  
(Hint: at about line 20 starts the new content [starting with quotation marks] if you don't want to read the beginning all over again)

However, I hope you will give it a chance after all :)  
Thanks!

* * *

**6\. Lose you tonight**

It slowly went quiet around the quite large sea. In the distance some kind of an owl was hooting, greeting the coming night in its way - rather unaware that its call was regarded as a death message on earth for a long time, above all in the Middle Ages.

Apart from that nothing moved, not even the wind.

Once in a while only loud sobs, emerging from the bottom of someone's very soul, were interrupting the silence. They were a sign of deep mourning.

Sheila was crouched beside the lifeless body of her brother and was only sobbing by this time. She had shed all her tears and her screams were faded away but the grief was going to remain, though.

Several minutes had passed since then.  
Basically, none of the friends had moved one bit meanwhile. None of them was giving the impression that they wanted to rise again sometime and continue their way in search for a portal out of this realm; even without their youngest member.  
You'd almost think that they wanted to sit and wait there forever, abandoning themselves to their sorrow.

If an enemy - especially Venger - had an appearance in these moments, he would have had an easy going with the Young Ones: one dead, the other five as good as. Their resistance as normally expected was broken long ago. There couldn't have been a better situation!

But they were lucky at this point: they didn't have to fear an attack from any foes, at least in this moment.

They were alone; everyone was occupied with his/her own grief.

"He will suffer for this!"

Hank lifted his head and looked towards Sheila.

"What-" it took a lot of effort for the Ranger to speak as his voice failed him. "What do you mean?" he tried once more.

"He'll suffer for this!" the girl repeated, hate distorted her kind features.

Before anyone of them could react to that, Sheila suddenly jumped up, glancing down lovingly at her dead kid brother for the last time - and ran off.

"Sheila? Sheila, what are you doing?" Hank called after her, confused, trying to chase her.

She pulled up her hood while running past him and vanished from his sight just before he could grab her arm to hold her back.

"Sheila! Stay here!"

The Thief wasn't responsive to his urgent pleas, though.

"Where's she going?" Presto asked cautiously.

The other two Young Ones were approaching them as well.

"I'm afraid she'll commit a terrible mistake..." Diana muttered.

The Magician raised his eyes to her with a puzzled face.

"I suppose she's gonna take vengeance for Bobby's death - on Venger..." she explained.

"She's nuts, ain't she? That's rather committing _suicide_! And for that she's leaving the kid here behind?" Eric declared in consternation.

"She probably doesn't know what else to do as sorrowful as she is..." Presto remarked, shrugging helplessly.

"We've gotta prevent her from suffering the same fate as Bobby!" Hank proclaimed, being torn.

Should they follow Sheila and support her more than hasty plans of revenge?

They certainly won't let their friend face their enemy on her own - but it was quite obvious that she didn't even want their help anyway by using her Cloak and running away.

On the other hand they can't leave Bobby here simply lying on the ground, he deserves an appropriate burial.

However, Sheila left them no choice, she had just now made this decision for herself as well as for the rest of the group: she wanted to confront their arch enemy alone - and surely would meet her own death with this.  
Perhaps that's what she desires in fact, they couldn't exclude this possibility after all.  
The deep mourning for her great loss had driven her to this desperate step.  
Yeah, maybe she's really gone insane caused by her brother's death, as Eric assumed.

They were now bound to remain right there and take care of the further 'stay' of their youngest member, though.

The Thief knew exactly that they would never leave the boy behind all alone and a decent funeral would take up a lot of time; time they were lacking to catch up with Sheila early enough to talk her out of her plan - or to assist her if a confrontation can't be avoided anymore by all means.

It was very likely that the little boy's sister will be laid to rest at the Barbarian's side in the near future, the leader thought with a shudder.  
Then the two siblings were reunited in death at least...

"Sheila!" he shouted after her once more, hoping to get through to her somehow after all but she probably was already too far gone.

Because of this commotion, none of the remaining four Young Ones noticed the faint movement.  
Only when they heard a low groaning followed by retching noises, they whirled around towards its source, alarmed.

Their eyes widened when they realized where the sounds actually came from.

Bobby's chest was raised and lowered irregularly!

Immediately they glanced at his face. His eyes were still closed, though, but they were shifting restlessly behind the lids.  
The retching noises were coming from him without any doubt.

"Bobby? Oh my god... Bobby..." Diana whispered hoarsely, rushing to the youngest.

She laid her arms around him and lifted his body.

And there the completely unimaginable thing happened: the boy presumed dead opened his eyes again!

Presto gasped in shock while everybody was staring down at the previously lifeless young Barbarian unbelievingly.

"What the...?" Eric blurted out.

Bobby retched again in Diana's arms.  
She instinctively turned the boy over and he threw up into the grass right away.  
They, looking both disgusted and fascinated at the same time, watched the kid spitting out a purple colored liquid.  
After that he gasped for breath and sank back into the Acrobat's arms, completely exhausted.

"Hey, guys." Bobby greeted the others, still a bit weak.

"Gee Bobby, we really thought you were... well..." Presto trailed off.

"Welcome back, short stuff. Long time no see." Eric joked, still a bit shocked.

"Riiight, Eric." the other boy replied with a ghost of a grin.

The poisoning appeared to be completely gone; the cheerfulness has finally returned to him again.

"Yeah, nice to see you again." Hank commented, forcing himself to smile but mentally already expecting the young boy's inevitable question.

"Where- where... is Sheila?" the Barbarian asked between two light coughing fits, looking around for his sister.

Diana glanced over to Hank, disheartened. What are they supposed to tell the kid?

The Ranger briefly closed his eyes while sighing resignedly.  
This wasn't going to be an easy confession for sure.

Heck, why couldn't Sheila - without blaming her now for that - have waited a little bit longer with her decision?  
She could have witnessed her brother's resurrection yet if she had hesitated just a few moments to be up and away.

It's really tricky: Bobby mysteriously came back from the dead but now they had to fear for his sister's life instead.

They actually didn't have time for detailed explanations since they had to follow Sheila as soon as possible and stop her from her suicidal actions.  
If they were going to set off soon without further considerable delays, they would be able to catch up with the Thief even before she will reach her final destination.  
There was no need for a burial anymore; at least not for the Barbarian...

"Hank?"

The shaking voice of the young boy didn't pass him unnoticed.

"Bobby... we- we truly assumed... we had lost you... forever... and Sheila... the loss of you was too hard to take for her..."

"What does that mean? Where's my sister?" despite his still stricken condition his question was demanding.

Hank walked towards the kid and put a hand on top of the other boy's head.

The Barbarian looked up at the leader pleadingly.

"I'm- I'm so sorry, Bobby, but Sheila... she's going to revenge your apparent death. My god, she doesn't even know that you- she returned to Venger's castle..."

"Noo! She can't do that, she just can't. We gotta get her back! He- he's gonna kill her..." crying out in despair the young boy tried to get up.

"Easy, Bobby, you're still too weak." the Ranger reminded him gently.

"Lemme go, Hank!" he reacted untypically harsh towards the older boy. "Please..."


	7. …and then there was silence…

**7\. ****…and then there was silence…**

Always tracing the already known path, Sheila was getting once more near Venger's castle they had escaped from only a couple of days ago, still full of hope for Bobby's complete recovery back then.  
Still being under her Cloak's cover, she was standing there in front of the building for a short moment and glowered across.

"For you, my beloved little brother..." she mumbled emphatically.

She then walked straight up to the stronghold while taking off her hood almost gracefully.  
As Thief her most successful attacks were always coming right out of invisibility but she wanted to confront their enemy face-to-face, he was supposed to see the one attacking him.

2 Orc guards were on sentry duty in front of the entrance gate this time.

"Stop right there!" one of them shouted when they caught sight of the Thief.

"It's ok." Sheila said coldly, raising her hands. "Take me to your master! I'm quite sure he won't have anything against my arrival!"

The two Orcs exchanged doubtful glances.

"You are one of Dungeon Master's pupils!?" it sounded more like a statement than a question.

She only nodded grimly.

"All right." the other soldier agreed after a short pause and reached out to grasp her.

"Don't touch me!" Sheila hissed while fending off his claw. "I got here by _my own choice_ and I'll also go to him _on my own_!"

"But what if you change-"

"I haven't come all this way just to simply vanish again - and much less to waste my time with his minions!" the girl interrupted him crossly.

The two guards looked at each other again.

"Well then, that's your choice." the second Orc snorted snidely, shrugging.

So they unblocked the way to let her pass. However they escorted her to their master, they evidently didn't trust her very much and suspected a trap.

"Master, here's..." the first Orc began when they entered Venger's chamber.

He didn't have to finish his sentence, though, because they already had their master's whole attention.

"Ahhh, the young Thief! And as I notice, you are here all alone - without your friends... To what do I owe the honor of your entirely unexpected visit?"

Venger vigilantly observed his young enemy who was vigorously getting rid of the Orc guard's arm clutching her.  
He registered the change of the usually very timid Thief and there he already could imagine what has caused this remarkable transformation.

Sheila revealed the clarification herself: "Bobby's _dead!_"

"Oh, really? Well, obviously the small Barbarian did not make it, then. A tragical loss, indeed!" Venger commented condescendingly, smiling cruelly.

A wave of rage, rather being expected to arise from her hot-tempered brother than from her, was unleashed inside Sheila by this complete lack of sympathy.

"And I've come to avenge his death!" she stated, cold as ice, with a straight face.

"And then you were coming to _me _of all Realms' inhabitants? What a fool you are, Thief!  
You clearly seem to have forgotten that _I_ haven't dosed your brother with those poisonous berries... whereas the delightful imagination of an enforced food intake upon him definitely would also have provided a certain attraction, by the way!  
So it wasn't me who caused his decease.  
In actual fact it's even most unfortunate that I am _not _responsible for the Barbarian's demise. Because if he had died at my hand, I would have possessed his magic weapon at least. Then I were its rightful owner.  
But for me, his death is of much more use than his life: it has led you here to me after all..."

With these provoking words he took a seat in his imposing throne and stared at the girl in anticipation, not at all impressed by her behavior.

Determined, she stepped up to Venger when she was seized on both her arms and held tight by the two guards.  
She fought back wrathfully.

"Let her do as she desires!" he commanded his servants to stop.

They released the Thief again after hesitating shortly.

Sheila came another step closer.

"If you hadn't kidnapped my brother..." she accused him bitterly.

"Would he then still be _alive_ until now?  
Girl, I was well aware that he was doomed to die, his end had been preordained. So why should I interfere in this matter?  
At the very most, I have only delayed his passing away for a little while and simply inflicted some more agonies on him as a result.  
Ah, but it has given me such a great pleasure to witness the small Barbarian being at the end of his strength. Especially considering how vivacious the insolent brat once had been and seeing him then like that in comparison; so forlorn, so completely without hope...  
Tell me, young Thief, did he at least _struggle_ when you drowned him?"

"_You..._ MONSTER!" Sheila was shouting beside herself and darted at her enemy with clenched fists.

Venger, however, didn't even bother to order his soldiers to shelter him from the furious Thief.  
Casually, he only raised his hand and in one single circular motion he threw the girl back with a magical flash of light.

Sheila ungently fell before the Orcs' feet but just a moment later she heaved herself up again, though already feeling a bit dazed, and made another dash at him - and with another lightning bolt he kept her at bay with no effort.

Her skirt was already tattered here and there, his dark magic left quite deep and bloody scratches all over her body.  
But yet her will to fight against Venger was still unbroken, although she was the only one getting hurt in the process.

However those pains reminded her only too well of the reason why she was taking all of this upon herself.  
All her hate was directed against their foe, even though he was right about him not exactly being responsible for Bobby's death.  
But after all it was more bearable for her to regard him as the culprit she could project all her rage, her hatred, her grief and her despair onto.

"We could proceed like this for hours without you approaching me anywhere near." Venger told her, sighing almost languidly when she had to take another hit. "Come to realize it, Young One, you don't have the ghost of a chance against me without the aid of your friends.  
You're not able to harm me at all, thus I generously offer you to surrender yourself. Align yourself with me and I will reprieve you."

"You're offering me a deal, Venger? How _dare_ you?! My brother's dead..." Sheila snarled, rubbing her sore arm.

"It would be a real shame to plainly destroy such an exceptional talent like yours.  
There are so many possible purposes of use for you with your Cloak coming to my mind... or shall I earnestly send you to your deceased brother?  
That's your true intention after all, isn't it, little Thief?"

The girl avoided his piercing eyes and didn't reply anything to that. This wasn't even necessary since he already knew.

"In addition to that I could also make your choice a bit easier for you by offering to spare your friends if you abandon yourself to me!"

She wheeled around to glare at him wrathfully.

"Are you trying to blackmail me now as you had forced Hank to betray us back then?  
I had truly assumed he'd turn us in to you simply to save his very own skin. However, I didn't even know by then that he only had done it for Bobby.  
And now you're demanding the very same thing of me?"

"Oh, you've mistaken my words, my dear. I do not want your _friends _in exchange, I want _you _instead. For that, the others are going to be reprieved by me."

"And my answer's 'No'! You've taken my brother away from me, you won't get me in return."

"Well, as you wish, Young One!" his expression darkened. "Then let's finish what you were coming for... _and die!_"

Saying this he finally rose from his throne and stepped up to her menacingly. Then he tossed her against the wall with an extremely powerful magical flash.

The girl gave a loud groan, eventually having difficulties to straighten herself again.  
Now badly dazed and with noticeable decreasing strength - and her will to live - she just kept on sitting slumped down at the wall, awaiting the redemptive final blow of her opponent any time soon.

"Leave her alone, Venger!" was suddenly yelled behind them.

And in the very next moment an arrow which was supposed to repel their foe was already fired off by Hank.

"I might have known that you would not leave your Thief to go down into her very death all by herself!" Venger was pointing out towards the other Young Ones standing before him ready to fight.

They were now getting in front of Sheila protectively.

"Back off and don't touch her!" the Ranger demanded firmly.

"Yeah, or else you'll be in big trouble!" another voice chimed in threateningly.

When hearing those last spoken words Sheila eventually looked up - and was shocked immediately.

"Bo-Bobby? Oh my god... is it really _you_? But how... is that even possible? _You're alive..._" she whispered in disbelief.

"Hey Sis!" the Barbarian, now appearing very lively again, turned around to his sister while grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Tears of incredible joy were coming to the girl's eyes.  
She slowly lifted herself up and headed for her little brother to finally hug him again, at long last.

"You're alive..." she iterated in a breathless voice.

Being way too much fixated on Bobby, the Thief was entirely oblivious of Venger and the fight against him, of the dangerous situation they were in.

However, this was a fatal error because their enemy announced quite disdainfully: "Though he will no longer have the time to rejoice over it, _unfortunately_..."

Far too late Sheila registered the movement from the corner of her eye.  
She lunged at the young boy at the same moment when Venger was attacking, though she couldn't prevent it anymore.

Missing her by only a few inches, a lethal lightning bolt shot past her. There it found its destined target: her brother.  
His body was struck by its magic with full force and with a stifling scream he was hurled to the floor where he remained lying down - motionless and staring blankly with his eyes wide open.  
His Club hit the ground a couple of feet beside him, making a dull sound.

The young Barbarian had just died a second time!

Sheila let out a piercing shriek...

* * *

**A/N:**

This &amp; the 6. chapter are how I originally intended to write my story before I changed my mind and revised it completely. Well, of course not exactly like that but pretty much something along these lines.

The part of Sheila getting revenge on Venger was mainly inspired by stories with the same theme (like the story 'Vengeance' by D.B. Cooper for example)


	8. Revelations

**8\. Revelations**

**8.1. Rainbow in the dark, closer to the heart**

_ ~ ~ ~ Sheila's dream ~ ~ ~  
_

With a start, the Thief woke up from this horrible nightmare, drenched in sweat and with the piercing shriek stifled inside her throat.

All the gruesome details in it were running through her mind again. She shivered.

With the dreadful uncertainty if the dream was possibly even real, she turned her head.  
Feeling incredibly relieved, she realized that it must have been only a dream after all, though a very bad one, because her little brother was lying next to her, being fast asleep peacefully with regular breathing.

There she already remembered: after the discovery of the dead portal keeper and the return to the tavern's secure shelter in the village near the 'Sea of Madness', she has followed her upset brother to his chamber to calm and comfort him - and that's exactly where they still are right now.

Her eyes were filled with tears of joy and relief.  
Being perfectly happy, she snuggled up to the sleeping Barbarian closely and kissed the back of his head tenderly.

Then she went back to sleep herself. This time she had no bad dream.

Everything was alright, Bobby was alive and well!

_ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _

**8.2. Down where I am**

_~ ~ ~ Bobby's dream ~ ~ ~  
_

Sheila's desperate scream was still ringing out in his ears and the pain of the deadly magic was burning inside his chest.

At the first moment of his terrified awakening, the Barbarian seriously wondered if this nightmare was real and he has died once more - killed by Venger's dark magic.

No, apparently this wasn't the case; he must, in fact, still be alive since his heart was hammering painfully against his chest, his pulse was rapid and he even heard himself gasping heavily for breath.  
With a cold shudder running down his spine, Bobby glanced around the dim chamber which they had moved into at the village's tavern close by the 'Sea of Madness' just this evening.

He perceived the sound of Hank's regular breathing from the bed beside him and this brought him certainty that it had been only a nightmare.  
His sister and his friends were sleeping in the two adjoining rooms and his admired leader was here with him.

He was safe here - and maybe tomorrow, after seeking out the keeper of the portal, he possibly will even be trapped in the Realms no longer but rather already back home again.  
So, no need to worry then... right?

However, this dream did worry him after all; as if his problems with his resurrection weren't already enough to be worried about right now!

That's why it was impossible to think of going back to sleep.  
Besides, as he even admitted to himself, he was scared of this dire dream to come back.

Sighing deeply, the young boy got out of his bed as quietly and carefully as possible in order to avoid waking Hank up and tiptoed across the room towards the window where he sat down on the window sill.  
Then he absentmindedly gazed at the stars and the 3 moons, in the hope of being calmed down again by this view.  
But more importantly, he wished he were able to persuade himself that this nightmare was, in no way, somehow real in the end...

"Bobby?" the sudden, unexpected voice of the Ranger startled him enormously - not to say 'scared him to death'.

As an inadvertent result, he couldn't help wincing but yet turned his head to look at Hank...

_ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _

**8.3. Back to where everyone belongs?**

_ ~ ~ ~ The siblings' common dream ~ ~ ~  
_

During the night, the two siblings woke up simultaneously from the very same terrible nightmare.

Haunted by an inexplicable premonition, they were lying in their beds, shivering with fear, accompanied only by their own racing heartbeats and the deep regular breaths of their respective roommates Diana and Hank - and the excruciating uncertainty whether or not this bad dream were or might come true in some way or another after all.

While Sheila, as an infantile form of self-protection, tried to repress the memory of the dream by pulling the blanket over her head just like she handles her Cloak, even fell asleep again short time later and has forgotten all about it until the next morning, her little brother on the other hand was completely unable to get back to a redeeming sleep, or any sleep at all for that matter.

Instead of drifting off to sleep peacefully, the dream sequences were tormenting the boy - in addition to his distress about his quite recent resurrection - so much that he couldn't stand staying in bed a second longer.

So he decided to rather get up than to keep on lying in bed. Quietly and carefully, so that he won't wake up Hank, he headed to the window.

Sitting on the window sill and looking out of the window, he hoped that watching the starry night sky would finally relieve his mind again.  
With mixed feelings he was thinking about the following morning when they are going to set off for the portal keeper Marius...

_ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _

**8.4. The awareness, death and the healing**

_~ ~ ~ Dungeon Master showed the siblings the alternate end ~ ~ ~  
_

"Well, my young pupils, now you know the truth about the sea and furthermore the presence of a potential alternative conclusion of your behavior." Dungeon Master told them serious-looking when the vision has finished, not talking in riddles for once.

"But..." Sheila, still shocked about the outcome of this vision, glanced over at her brother who was looking stonily to the corner where the vision of both their possible deaths - the Thief's death was still uncertain despite everything - had taken place just a few moments ago.

"Could I have prevented this... end completely if I had... _been gone_... way sooner?" Bobby wanted to know, raising his eyes to their mentor now.

"No, Barbarian, this could not have altered the final situation at all." the man replied, shaking his head.

The boy already opened his mouth to speak but their guide anticipated his question.

"Even a faster decision on your part, whether you were willing to be recalled to life or not, would have come to the same result." he explained. "By the time you had eaten those fruits this alternative was already existent. From this moment on, there was nothing what could have changed or even averted this incident. It was predestined."

"Is it possible that something from this vision might come _true_ after all?" the Thief was asking anxiously.

"No. Instead of complying with your dark desire for vengeance, you have unwittingly chosen for yourself to endure your grief by your brother's side at the sea. Thus you have taken the peaceful way and not the destructive one.  
Now everything is set, the Realm's order will be maintained.  
I revealed the vision to you for the purpose of acquainting you, young Thief, with your dark side which is not permitted to appear at the surface under any circumstances - and helping you, young Barbarian, with reprocessing the aftermaths of your resurrection.  
Do you understand now how hugely important it had been to show you this?"

The two siblings nodded one after the other.

"You were not even authorized to gain access to this knowledge at all, of course.  
It would be much too dangerous for you both and your friends as well as your enemies if you were still carrying this awareness within yourselves and, depending on the situation, making use of it to the benefit or even quite imprudently to the disadvantage of you and your friends.  
Therefore I'm going to remove the insight from your minds again!"

"Aw, do you really have to, Dungeon Master? We won't tell _anyone_! Cross my heart and hope to d-" Bobby abruptly cut off in mid-sentence, biting his lower lip in embarrassment when realizing the significance of this old harmless child's rhyme.

No, he didn't want to think or talk about _dying_ at all, even if it's only meant in the figurative sense.  
That's why he glossed over his slip by speaking on hastily.

"Uhh, right, Sis?" he finished almost imploringly, looking at first at his sister and then at Dungeon Master when she had nodded her agreement.

"I'm sincerely sorry but that's impossible! Trust me, it is better that way." he tried to encourage the Barbarian who only uttered a grumble.

However, except for Bobby's half-hearted attempt to get their guide to reconsider his decision, there was no other one coming from the siblings, they had already accepted Dungeon Master's intention (no matter what this 'remove from the mind' was supposed to mean for them in the end) as a given fact - in spite of his more than feeble and unconvincing explanation.

Their demeanor was a striking indication that both siblings were really 'Pure of Heart', as were the other Young Ones as well of course, since they literally trusted their guide blindly and had absolutely no doubts about his loyalty - which, in case of the youngest group member at least, could be explained with the boy's still fairly innocent perception and childlike naive definition of good &amp; evil.

For this reason, it didn't even occur to them to challenge the logic behind their mentor's purposes as to why they had to go through the cruel vision that supposedly provided relief for them, according to his own statement, in the first place when only a few moments later they were going to lose this experience again anyway.  
How could they ever receive full recovery &amp; learn the truth then if they didn't even have the faintest idea about this alternate version anymore?

Whatsoever, Dungeon Master will probably keep a secret about that forever!

So, they were pretty sure that their guide had good reasons for his way of thinking and acting, and above all he would never ever cause any harm to them!

"Well then!" the man announced the next moment, with no further explanations.

Without hesitation, he then raised his arms and held out his hands, one in front of each sibling's face.  
A bright light appeared in his palms and they were staring fixedly at the light now reflecting in their eyes until they were nearly blinded by its intensity.  
All of a sudden, the light faded away from the hands and with that also out of their eyes.

As they were blinking, looking slightly confused, their pupils have reverted back to their normal state.

"Ohh, hey Dungeon Master." the Thief greeted, obviously surprised at the 'sudden appearance' of their mentor.

In fact, the girl had actually forgotten that Dungeon Master has shown up in this tavern room as well, shortly after she followed the upset boy to his chamber where she talked to him at first and comforted him afterwards.  
They also couldn't even remember anymore that the three of them had already been talking together previously for some time - and that he had revealed them an alternative ending of the scene at the 'Sea of Madness'!

"Greetings, my two Young Ones." the small man replied, smiling secretly and coming closer to them...

_ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _

**8.5. Hell's bells: Entering the stronghold**

_~ ~ ~ Venger watched the vision 'stolen' from the portal keeper Marius ~ ~ ~  
_

"_What?_ Why does the vision stop at such a significant point like this? I've got to learn how it will proceed." Venger yelled furiously.

Two Orc soldiers - exactly the ones who have failed miserably to keep the Barbarian, caged &amp; additionally weakened by the poisoning, under guard a few days ago and were now forced to execute any of their master's arising services as punishment - quickly backed off for fear of impending trouble.

"Master, this is everything I can provide and I am unable to obtain some more information for you after all. May I remind you that you have killed the keeper of the portal?" Shadow Demon reported.

_"I'm well aware of that!"_ he snapped at his loyal servant with a sinister side glance. "However, there _must _come something more afterwards!  
It just cannot end so abruptly with the assassination of Dungeon Master's youngest hero! Will his Club be mine then?  
And what of the Thief? Will I take her life as well or will I be able to allure her to me on the dark side at long last so that she's willing to turn against her remaining friends on the very edge of her own imminent death and then join me to destroy them once and for all? I demand to know!"

Exasperated, Venger rose from his throne and paced around the room nervously.

"One cannot even claim for sure whether or not this vision remotely corresponds with reality, my Lord!"

"You dare to call it into question, Shadow Demon? Are you in fact implying that there's even a slight chance it couldn't ever come as far as that at all?" he directed menacingly at the demon.  
"I emerge victorious from this vision for I have slayed the little brat and perhaps even corrupted his dearly beloved sister - or simply killed her too.  
And now tell me: which part of it do you think does not 'correspond with reality'?! It has prophesied a glorious future for me in the end - and a dark one for my young enemies."

Smirking diabolically, Venger sat down again, taking his triumph over those detested Young Ones already for granted.  
Now impatiently waiting for Sheila and, as a consequence, her 'ending' - regardless of whether this should signify her exitus or indeed her fall from grace to the dark side!

Shadow Demon quit making his master realize that this vision was only one of various possibilities and led him to believe instead that everything could happen in the exact same way like they had seen it before.  
He on the other hand knew that the course of the vision was solely dependent on Dungeon Master's pupils themselves and their own inner strength.

If the young Thief was going to pause at the sea for only a brief moment, the just received vision would be invalid then.  
She would attend the small Barbarian's return from the dead and so there was no reason for her anymore to initiate a baneful vendetta against his master!

In order to avoid the risk of becoming the target of Venger's wrath in case of another potential unsuccessful attempt, the demon disappeared and left the castle.

So he rather decided to carry on spying on the Young Ones and aside from that it has been quite a while since he last paid a visit to the 'Twilight Zone of Spirits and Deceased Ones'...

_ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _ . . _ _

**8.6. The Guardians of Fate**

_~ ~ ~ Alternative scenario which is taking place after the Young Ones left the Sea of Madness; staged by the Protectors of the Sea for archive purposes ~ ~ ~  
_

At the time when the Young Ones, now all of them united again, were walking away from the 'Sea of Madness' without ever looking back, a sequence as in a vision materialized right above the water's surface all of a sudden.  
This vision performed an alternate outcome of Bobby's resurrection, making them all appear in the shape of ghosts.  
But unlike the other version, this one was not going to result in a happy ending...

The male Guardian of the Sea of Madness watched the 6 children go while the vision of the revengeful Sheila was taking its tragic course.

"It was wise of your pupils to enter the halcyon way, albeit they will never learn anything of the choice they had.  
After her desperate assault on us, when realizing the bitter truth about the procedure with the poisoned one, I truly expected the young Thief to choose the destructive path." he addressed the person standing beside him.

"The initial version had been the guarantee for the maintenance of the Realm's equilibrium.  
After all you, as being the 'Protectors of the Sea and the Twilight Zone of Spirits &amp; Deceased Ones', have knowledge of what would have happened with the Thief and how the fate of the others would have progressed once Venger had murdered the young Barbarian again and gotten hold of his magic weapon.  
And more importantly, the child would have been refused to be risen from the dead for another time by dying in this manner. Beyond doubt, this would have spelled doom..." the old man pointed out with a nod and glimpsed at the vision just in that moment when Venger was committing the previously mentioned killing of the youngest and the boy's sister was screaming out in despair.

"The very high peril had always been present that she could not have resisted the temptation." the female keeper objected and sighed.

She caught the now finished vision with her hands and led it close to her heart where it entered her ethereal body as a vibrant light.  
In this way the vision was embedded in the memory of the guardians for all eternity.

"Indeed. Even I was wondering myself how strong the young Thief would be.  
The dark side within her could have been evoked due to her brother's death, taking complete possession of her.  
However, fortunately enough, she had not succumbed to her desire. She's completely unconscious of it, though, but with suppressing this disruptive behavior she has saved not only the life of the Barbarian or her very own..." Dungeon Master agreed and after a short pause he added, "Verily, it never ceases to amaze me how only a few moments of hesitation can make the essential difference between peace and perdition... that life and death are, in fact, just one heartbeat apart.  
For the extended moment the Thief had spent with her sorrow was already sufficient to prevent the looming bale."

"Dungeon Master, you have been existing in the Realms for eons by now - and so do we! How can it be then that you are still astonished at the most obvious things in spite of everything?" the male keeper commented in a slightly reproachful voice, shaking his head.

"Well, I daresay even a man of such an old age like my humble self still has got to learn something new every day, just as those young heroes of mine." he admitted with a secret smile...

* * *

**A/N:  
**

_Here it is: the 'conclusion' of this story, kind of at least._

_Since there was more than one possible concluding scene for the story floating around in my head, I really couldn't decide which 'end' to finally pick to finish it._  
_They were all appealing to me equally, every single one in its own way._

_So I just posted them all in order to share them with you as well.  
I hope it's not all too confusing and/or distracting for you_

_Anyway, I put a poll on my profile page where you can vote which end you prefer/like better/find more coherent etc.  
__You can find it in the upper part of the site, below my nickname and by clicking "Vote now!" you'll get to the choices.  
_

_Maybe I'm going to remove all but one 'end' at some time then, I don't know yet. Well, time will tell.  
But if I do, __the ones with the most votes will of course be taken on the shortlist for the 'final end'! _

_Once again, thanks (in advance) for reading, reviewing &amp; voting!_  
_I hope you had as much fun reading it as I writing it :)_


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